Buying property in Japan? This mini tower house can be yours for ¥1.3 mil

People often say that Japan is a land of contrasts. It’s a country where faxes coexist with futuristic robot technologies, ancient shrines peer out from the shadow of city high rises, and women in kimono strut around on streets where you’ll also find some of the craziest cosplay.

And while some of the smallest houses on tiny plots of land can sell for big bucks in urban areas, there are gobsmacking free housing offers and amazing discounts to be found here as well. Case in point is this unusual home currently on the market and drawing attention from potential buyers around the country.

Standing on a single reinforced concrete pillar base, this unusual home is on the market for the surprisingly low price of 1.3 million yen.

And though it might look small from the outside, the layout shows there are actually two levels inside the home with one room, a combined living, dining and kitchen area, a bathroom on the ground floor, and a second room on the next level.

▼ The living, dining and kitchen area has corner windows on both ends of the room.

▼ The house comes with a basic kitchen…

▼ …and a toilet that’s separate from the bathroom.

▼ While the first floor bedroom is large enough to fit two single beds.

▼ The room on the second level, with traditional tatami floors, can be used as a living room or second bedroom.

One of the home’s most impressive features is the bathroom, which is connected to a hot spring. While this comes with a monthly usage fee of approximately 11,000 yen a month for 20,000 liters of water, it does mean you get to enjoy all the benefits of hot spring bathing in the privacy of your own home.

There’s also a monthly 1,000 yen management fee for the property, which sits on land measuring 138 square meters. The building itself is 55.89 square meters in size, and was built in September 1976.

Despite being in a rural countryside area, it takes just 8 minutes by car to get to the nearest shopping centre, where clinics, a post office, convenience stores and banks are also located. The property is a 10-minute walk from the nearest bus stop, and 4.5 kilometers from Shuzenji Station.

Like Japan’s many other weird and wonderful properties, this home is likely to be snapped up soon, so be sure to contact the agent now if you’re interested!

Jan. 17
10:39 am JST

Well, the Mini Tower CAN be a home until the MAXI earthquake topples it, after which you either use it as your new burial site, or if you happened to be out of the Mini Tower at the time, need to look for a new house with your leftover money plus whatever insurance payment you might receive.

Jan. 17
08:39 am JST

Jan. 17
12:12 pm JST

A single pillar base? How deep in the ground does that pillar go? I must agree with most here. This just seems like a really flawed build. One major quake and we might get the Pisa affect. As far as the layout goes. That can be changed and upgraded. Also does the water piping and electrical run inside the pillar? It must unless it is all on the back side of the pillar as it is not visible in the photo. Those roof overhangs too. LOL.

Jan. 17
11:32 am JST

Jan. 17
12:05 pm JST

While this comes with a monthly usage fee of approximately 11,000 yen a month for 20,000 liters of water

Man! I usually pay half that during the winter months and a little less than my winter months during the rest of the year. Expensive water bill. @ Insane Wayne - I definitely agree with you about that. On the positive side, it is cheap enough (financially) to be used as a getaway home or rent it out.

Jan. 17
07:00 pm JST

Jan. 17
07:25 pm JST

1.3 million yen for a small house on 138 square metres of land? Agree about the generally unattractive look of things inside, but you couldn't buy a garden shed for that price where I live. And it's in the countryside, too, down on the Izu Peninsula - not far from Tokyo or Yokohama.

Why wouldn't some frazzled urbanite buy it as a holiday home, do it up a bit and just go there for a week at a time as a holiday house?

Jan. 18
08:21 am JST

Jan. 18
10:19 am JST

I've been looking at these cheapo country houses for years online but decided against getting one as somewhere to take the kids. The thing that usually strikes me is how bad the bathrooms are in a country that has such a bathing culture. Yeah OK it might be a natural hot spring but why bother making such a small bathroom when you want to go there and lounge in the onsen?